When Dick the Butcher declared in Shakespeare’s Henry VI “The first thing we do let’s kill all the lawyers,” he may have been prophetic. Jones Day partner Mark Herrmann has written on his blog that his unscientific survey shows that legal blogs tend to have a lifespan of less than a year.
We may have typos and trolls, but we are still here after roughly two years. That should count for something.
For the blog story, click here.
BIL: “It’s just like The Matrix. Take the Red Pill or the Blue Pill. But which pill you take is your choice.”
That’s right- you choose the pill. Leaving would be a bitter and reactionary pill and one that has little palitive value.
Choose another pill dude. The blawg has too few Science Fiction fans as it is. Besides, there are way more funner pills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HmJQyS8QVw
Patty,
I hope you see this before JT protects you again,
GO FUCK YOURSELF YOU STUPID BI-POLAR ROAD WHORE.
Now that’s what I’ve been wanting to say all along.
Isn’t unfettered free speech wonderful?
Patty C,
Stay outta of itm drink your gruel, cast your spells, but stay the hell away from myself or Buddha,
AY,
I’m not leaving because of Patty. I’ve said before I’d stay just to piss her off.
I’m leaving because of JT’s handling of Patty.
Big difference.
It’s been nice knowing you. Good luck and don’t let the bad Texans get you. Tip a frosty for me next time you’re in Austin.
Buddha Is Laughing 1, September 11, 2009 at 10:50 pm
JT,
You punish defense now? Um, yeah, I’m going to call bullshit on that one.
Apparently you didn’t understand what the problem is here even though I explained it quite clearly above.
I told you what to expect from me as long as she’s on the attack. So you expect to wait for you to come along and stop her for me now? Yeah. That’s worked so well historically for the months you’ve now let her run rampant. I don’t think so.
I’ll take this as a request to leave
—
Yes, leave.
That would suit most of us just fine… 😉
Boudin Bakery’s brownies
Total time: About 1 hour
Servings: 24
Note: Adapted from Boudin Bakery.
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, plus extra for greasing the dish.
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
5 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (6.38 ounces) flour
2 1/2 cups toasted, chopped pecans or walnuts
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish.
2. In a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the melted chocolate, then the salt and flour just until combined. Gently fold in the nuts.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the center of the oven until puffed and almost set, about 45 minutes. A toothpick inserted will be slightly moist. Remove and cool slightly before serving.
Each serving: 336 calories; 4 grams protein; 38 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 21 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 64 mg. cholesterol; 113 mg. sodium.
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
Bon Appetit!
Buddha,
Stay man. This person is not going to run me off. Until I get banned I will respond in kind when it is a personal attack. Think Jackson Browne and Lil Eva Won’t you stay…
scribadiva, everybody has a bad day and almost everybody uses themselves as an example now and then. Sometimes we rant too. Well, I rant. They tollerate that from me. This is a good blawg, aberations and all.
Getting “it”… (non-combative post cause “it” is on my mind today and yesterday and twitching me up mightily):
I think I get it but from a different perspective. I did though one night inadvertently end up somehow on one of the ‘members only’ forums on the AMA website and know from that totally inadvertant exposure that doctors hate big pharma. My exposure and attitude about health care is from lower down on the foodchain.
I’ve spent 6 years dealing regularly with the medical industry to include doctors, hospitals, outriggers like testing facilities and labs, the insurance companies and nursing homes providing both long term care and the second tier of care previously provided by hospitals like therapy in a live in setting for both my husband and father. I think I get it.
The industry is an engine for the redistribution of wealth; an incestuous association of components designed to extract as much money as possible through over-specialized practitioners taking check-list diagnosis from hospitals and lab techs to an extreme of poor and outright false diagnosis and their resultant expensive and harmful/dangerous follow-up procedures.
A couple of examples:
3 separate doctors, two of them specialists giving a diagnosis of (virtually terminal) cancer based on the same initial flawed tests without even seeing my husband; just having a hospital referral as grounds to establish tentative time lines for surgery. We were saved that horror by an anesthesiologist that refused to sign off on the procedure because my husband was too ill to survive surgery. The doctors were fine with the situation though. A fourth doctor we saw after his discharge ordered a new, complete run of tests and told us that there had been mis- diagnosis and surgery was the last thing he needed, too risky. Amazing!
A similar situation happened with my father but the tests were so invasive and potentially harmful I questioned them. He was already in the medical suite to have the tests (which had nothing to do with why he had been taken to the hospital) and giving the doctor such a hard time about it that I was called by the doctor to talk him into it. I hit the ceiling; I’m not informed about the tests necessity (Though the bills come to me and I have power of atty. for all commercial dealings and listed as guarantor and guardian with the hospital.) but sufficient to call when a problem with a check-list of tests went awry?
Q. “What’s the test for?”
A. “Heart valve damage.”
Q. “And what is the remedy if you find out he does in fact have heart-valve damage?”
“Open heart surgery” was the answer.
Loooong pause on my part then “And just how good of a candidate for open heart surgery is a 91 year old man?
Nooooooo answer on the doctors part so I said “Then take him back to his room and leave him the fuck alone- no more tests for anything!
Then there’s hospitals ham-strung by insurance providers into early discharges and the shunting of patients to the second tier of care- skilled nursing facilities that are understaffed and over occupied where needed care is a daily argument between the care givers and the patients loved ones/relatives and if you cause too much trouble demanding the minimum care promised they discharge you. Been there.
I got my fathers last pharmacy bill Tuesday. On it is a 100. co-pay for 4 pills totaling $330. and change, among various and sundry normal and expensive drugs ($4. and %5.@) I called the insurance company and in discussing the drug (an specialized anticoagulant) was told some people are prescribed the drug (Lovenox) over a long period of time. ? How do they manage to pay for it? I have a great health plan ($11K, almost 12 a year) and my dads was pretty good too but no one save the most wealthy among us could afford that drug for long even with insurance. Shit, Nexium is over $4. a pill with a $50. copay!
Overpriced drugs paid for at greatly reduced discount prices by insurance companies while co-pays are charged on the full listed price. Same for every procedure and treatment supplied all up and down the food chain. This is the incentive for over prescribing, assembly-line specialized procedures and tests that are irrelevant to the patient and the patients care. It does make a lot of people rich though.
That’s kind of background. I have been living with that and just question everything as a matter of self defense. What really twitched me up was an e-mail I read from a regular correspondent of 8-9 years on a private, special interest newsgroup last week and received a more thorough follow-up on this morning.
An e-friend that’s been a recovering alcoholic for 17 years has started drinking again. She’s in her late 60s and over the last 4 years has spent ALL of her savings on medical treatment. ALL of it is gone. She now has a Social Security income that pays her less than $10k a year and she has hit the Medicare ‘gap’ in prescription coverage again.
30 years ago she bought a home and an adjacent side lot. I had to send her something in the mail so I googled her house: nothing to write home about but its within commuting distance of Seattle and over the years has now increased in appraisal value about 250%. (I feel that pain also.) So her situation is this; she needs medicine and can’t afford it; her property (like mine should I be faced with the same situation) is worth more than the maximum allowed to be retained and be approved for Medicaid; if she sells the small side lot she has too much ‘income’ to qualify for Medicaid this year but she can buy meds. Her reduced holdings (based on a call to her county assessor) are still over the max but she may be able to get a ruling (waiver) that will allow her to maintain her house and the primary lot and still qualify for Medicaid. That would be the best case. If not she can’t get a waiver she will eventually have to sell the house and it’s lot and spend-down that money before she will qualify for Medicaid. Once she qualifies for Medicaid she will be able to keep her Social Security but have to find living arrangements and survive on less than 10K a year. The key is the waiver and she doesn’t know what the probability of that is. If she can’t get one she is screwed. Totally.
I’ve researched Medicaid and her assessment of her situation mirrors my understanding perfectly. She’s not being a hysteric or misunderstanding her situation. She has a firm grasp of her future so I guess she’s just going to … what? I don’t know. Drink. Drink herself to death? I don’t know what to write her back. A couple of people have written her the usual- sorry, stop drinking, have you called your State Agency on Aging?, buck up… None of that seems worth saying. We live in different states but the details for qualification etc. are probably not too different. I’ll do some research on Washington State/Medicaid but I don’t feel hopeful that I can write her anything that will alter her understanding. The basic template she has determined from the phone calls she has already made is correct based on my own research on Missouri/Medicaid. Obviously, focusing on the waiver is what needs to be done and the best thing I could tell her is probably to consult a lawyer on that possibility. Get more info before she just gives up.
There seems to be a whole batch of people that are being overlooked in the health-care debate, the people that won’t be declaring bankruptcy but will nonetheless be destroyed by the cost of health-care industry as they age. An option that does not require impoverishment as a prerequisite would be nice …
JT,
You punish defense now? Um, yeah, I’m going to call bullshit on that one.
Apparently you didn’t understand what the problem is here even though I explained it quite clearly above.
I told you what to expect from me as long as she’s on the attack. So you expect to wait for you to come along and stop her for me now? Yeah. That’s worked so well historically for the months you’ve now let her run rampant. I don’t think so.
I’ll take this as a request to leave.
If you think your favoritism toward Patty during this whole affair has gone unnoticed by the other regulars? You’re sorrily mistaken. And if you think it won’t have repercussions with some of them? Well, I hope you’re so fortunate.
Regulars and semi-lurkers, it has been a hoot.
Enjoy the playmate JT apparently endorses for you.
JT,
There’s a huge difference between encouraging free speech (great, all for it) and encouraging psychotics who do nothing but antagonize (waste of everyone’s time). That’s why I brought it up. Too bad you can’t see that and I am very puzzled by the blind spot.
The exchanges over AY’s boy should alone tell you there is something very wrong here and it’s beyond the subject of civility.
In the abstract and the ideal, I am all on your side concerning the value of free speech. I just disagree on how you are interpreting human nature in this instance and how it relates to civility in the pursuit of free speech. You can have unfettered free speech, but it must be for all and literally have no limit as it cannot be unfettered by definition if confined. But you cannot have civil free speech without some rules and rules with consequence. I give you the recent example of “You lie!” being screamed at the President by Rep. “Poor Impulse Control” Wilson. Free speech most certainly. Civil? Not a damn bit. It was the wrong forum for that. I’d gladly call Obama a liar to his face on some topics, but I’d never do in the chambers of Congress. Wrong place, wrong time. Rep. Mouth should be censured. I just don’t see how you can have unfettered free speech and except civility. Civility is considered a civic virtue whose primary component is self-restraint. This implies rules even if they are internalized, but rules nonetheless. Maybe that’s why we have Robert’s Rules of Order and Civil Procedure (beyond the pure techincal paper pushing aspect of it). It should be noted civility shares the root with the word “civilization”. Someone’s total lack of self-restraint is the issue.
You are seeking the unbounded yet request the constrained. The yin and yang of this action are out of harmony and will only lead to discord until the line is set firm or erased all together. You seek mutually exclusive ends. I hope that clarifies my position.
CCD,
Thank you and I appreciate the truth of what you say, but to me this isn’t just a matter moving Qi. It’s a matter of proper respect. It’s principle, not ability to avoid or destroy. I’m pretty sure I’ve demonstrated I’m capable of either and with many variations. This is a matter of the dojo and the sensei and other students are not being properly respected by a misbehaving student. I have no respect nor much tolerance for that. Too much time in the real dojo makes it an ingrained habit. The forum itself demands respect for it and the others who seek to learn there. Fighting is permitted. Disrespect is not. It has been that way in every dojo I’ve ever entered.
It’s good to hear from you. I was just wondering yesterday what you’ve been up to (besides obviously being busy). Also, thank you for the generous compliment. I do not consider myself a teacher or a leader, merely a participant, but I thank you nonetheless. I am honored and humbled that you have found utility in my words.
bdaman,
Bron showed us that those who wander off the path of true liberty and into trollery can find their way back out of the thicket. There is no reason to assume you cannot do the same. It’ll just take a little inner change – some deep reflection. Consider the words of our lovely newcomer jenx when she said she hoped Conservatives would realize many adopt liberal ideals because they see them as being more in line with the life and teachings of Christ. Smart gal. She’s on to something there.
It’s not easy to change but it’s possible. It’s just like The Matrix. Take the Red Pill or the Blue Pill. But which pill you take is your choice. And by the continuing regret you profess, I think you may still be salvageable. Make an effort. Those making an effort around here usually get the carrot and not the stick.
This still doesn’t mean you have a clue about science. Read “Chaos” by James Gleick. If you understand the book (won’t mislead you, it’s not for the faint even though it’s geared to non-scientists), you’ll understand the underlying problem with global warming and atmospheric chemistry (and it’s not sunspots, it’s altering the composition I promise you).
http://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Making-Science-James-Gleick/dp/0143113453/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252712522&sr=8-1
BIl just as I have deleted some entries from Patty C today I have deleted some of this most recent entry for violating our rule on civil discourse.
To:lottakatz
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I was looking for an answer; I was just taking Laurie Anderson’s word for it. I suspected there must be some way, some filter, but I should have looked it up myself.
Before my “Incident,” I had started scanning photographs I had taken while hitch-hiking cross-country. I was seeing a painter, and he saw a black & white series of photos I had done of a sunrise on Martha’s Vineyard. He marched me down to a gallery, where the owner assessed each at $125. I nearly fainted. I sold two of them. I shouldn’t be going into these details, but I love finding common ground.
Your encouragement is very much appreciated. Thank you for the welcome. I hate burdening my mate with this, because he has his own battles. I will, from now, follow the rules, and not indulge into my personal health. I will also make sure I’m more informed about what I discuss. In general, I really enjoy this site, and the obvious intelligence and kindness I see directed at me. Big, big thank yous.
As for the dx,Patty C, I’m not taking corticosteroids. Three months prior to that, my doctor tested me, and my glucose was 96. My grandfather, though, had Type I and I just found that out a few years ago, when my brother had kids. I never knew adults could get it. My dx is a long list, and while I very much appreciate your concern, I don’t think this is the place to go through it. But that was a good question, and I value any attention my situation gets right now. Chin up! Stiff upper lip and all that! Thank you, Patty.
I just had a bad day. I used myself as an example mostly to show we all have our struggles. My mate’s father was the first doctor to sue another doctor, one of the cases that The Verdict was based on. He used to say “Tragedy is a dime a dozen.” At the time, I was young and thought it was cold-hearted. But I think we all know it’s true. But if we didn’t have a dark side to life, we’d never fully appreciate the light, as Milton would attest.
A lot of people profited from my mate’s epic tragedy, and now everyone is gone. His father died two years ago, and I’m trying to see if he can let go of all than. I don’t believe in fate, but I ended up working at the same school that Barry Reed, the author of the Verdict, had a chair. Needless to say, we had a strained relationship.
I will cease and desist with my long life stories. I’m setting up a blog and website for that. And I have mandatory meals, (without an appetite), so I must now leave and comply.
I appreciate everyone’s reception, concern, and suggestions. To Anonymously yours, Thank You. Good night, and Sweet tides for all.
I am not looking for a diagnosis. It gets worse. After taking care of myself very well all my life, I am now a pathetic wreck. I contracted walking pneumonia, which caused Diabetes Type I. After trying Supartz injections, I came home, and my mate couldn’t wake me up the next day. By 3 p.m., he called an ambulance.
—
You should be looking for a dx…
Without knowing anything other than what you have reported, I suspect you have had some type of diabetes for a while.
Are you taking corticosteroids for any reason?
scribadiva,
Star and deep space photos are often taken in several exposures through filters geared to the kind of light available from the image area. The several images are then cleaned up, adjusted for density and combined into one overlaid image. The images can be manipulated for color saturation based on other scientific concerns- some chemical signatures show up more readily if particular filters are used so a photo can be manipulated to screen out or to enhance certain chemical signatures to illustrate how much of one chemical or another is present.
Also, for straight black and white images taken without filtration, a knowledge of chemicals present from the target (gained though other scientific instruments) can be used to add color to a monochromatic image.
My info is old but unless photography has changed from the recording and manipulation of light to something totally magical the basic principles are still in play. In fact, I think JPL may still let you download some of their software- very early one morning I ended up on a JPL site that was offering software and raw images.
Now, I don’t know if you actually wanted that info or not but I’ll give you a warning for your future visits: the folks here tend to be kind of anal and ocd about info; if they don’t have it at their fingertips they research it and provide citations and links 🙂 It’s our gift, it’s our curse 🙂 I worked in the photography/chartmaking field for many years and we did some sub-contract work for NASA. I was actually trying to come up with some sites to reference/link that would ‘splain what I had read and know from doing relevant photo work but couldn’t find anything to fit the bill. If you are asking questions that require specific information you may have to wait until someone comes up with the relevant info/links etc.
As for this thread- don’t let it discourage you from visiting, it is an aberration and they are few and far between. The regulars here tend toward gentility compared to 99% of the sites with loosely monitored comment sections. You will like the folks that regularly gather here.
scribadiva,
Thank you.
O.k. I tried to redirect the conversation, but people seem hell-bent on destroying each other.
I come here–perhaps I should just stick to my reader–but I come here to take my mind off the fact that I am in so much pain I can barely see straight. Fractured skull, herniated neck, now told spinal arthritis, and endstage osteoarthritis; from working out, I lost ALL cartelidge gone in both knees. I have pitting and loss bone chips floating around. The American Pain Foundation equates my condition to be the same as bone cancer.
I am not looking for a diagnosis. It gets worse. After taking care of myself very well all my life, I am now a pathetic wreck. I contracted walking pneumonia, which caused Diabetes Type I. After trying Supartz injections, I came home, and my mate couldn’t wake me up the next day. By 3 p.m., he called an ambulance.
I went into respiratory failure, and the only thing the doctors could do was to induce a diabetic coma, because my blood glucose was 660 and rising. My pain specialist heard I was IN a coma, not PLACED in a coma, assumed the worst, and sent a letter that was pre-dated to make it appear that he dropped me as a patient. When asked why by my PCP, me and others, we got a variety of answers.
Pain has an effect on blood glucose. Everyday I go from 400 up to a number the meter can’t read, and then drop to 40 because my insulin dose is so high. This is an autoimmune disease.
When Michael Jackson died, Deepak Chopra said he had lupus. He also claimed that autoimmune diseases are caused by — child abuse. I found this to be absolutely insane. So, I sent an email to a psychologist I was seeing that specializes in pain. I’ve been seeing her for three years, so I was comfortable joking, “Stop the presses! Alert JAMA!”
Well, I guess I punched the wrong button. A normally neurotic person turned deadly. She wrote a report that suggested I was the victim of child abuse, along with 59 outright mistruths and misleading information. She did not forget, I’m sure of that. She’s had RA since she was three, and I’m not going into further details about her.
She sent this report to people that don’t even have HIPPA clearance for her. She won’t give me a copy of the report, but she sent it to my medical psychiatrist, surgeon, former pain specialist, my regular therapist and my primary care doctor. All but my therapist are dumping me. My therapist knows the truth about this woman’s behavior towards me, and knows what a rag that document is. My PCP is keeping me on such a small dose, it’s not even worth it.
Without knee replacements, I will lose more bone, and be in even worse pain. I barely have the ability to walk. This woman, because of her pathology, has set out to destroy me.
My desk is three feet from my bed, and I have a rolling desk chair. Most days I can get out of bed using my walker, get in the chair and travel here, to you. I’m also a member of Amnesty Int’l and ACLU, and I send out letters an e-mails mostly on torture and detention without charge. I wrote a feed for HR756 The Pain Relief Act, and I am praying for that to pass.
But right now, listening to you attacking each other, well, you might as well be Republicans or people on Medicare that aren’t aware it’s gov’t. I feel like when I came out of the coma, it’s opposite year and nobody told me.
If someone says they’ve attempted suicide, or they lost a loved one, it is more than impolite to suggest otherwise. In fact, it’s inhuman.How about counting your blessings? Because that’s what I do every morning, esp. today when I had great temptation to inject all of my insulin. If I didn’t have Medicare and Medicaid, I would be dead numerous times.If anyone reads that report, like my surgeon, who is dropping me, they won’t touch me. I can get no pain relief, and I will only get worse. Yet, while I believe in the single payer system, I don’t discuss that with my doctor because that is his INCOME. I understand the reaction these doctors are having, and it’s based in fear and the quality of their futures. But I’m screwed.
So if I can handle reading–and being attacked by a medical person that appeared to be my friend–I think strangers should be able to tolerate each other’s quirks. And respect their views. If you want disrespect and curse and judge other people’s pain, take a walk on the other side. Put yourself in their shoes. The Golden Rule is NOT do undo others as they do unto you. It is do unto others as you would have done to yourself. I actually heard the former on Fixed News.
It seems to me you are all bright and sensitive people. Yes, I think our country is imploding. I feel the Bush adminstration destroyed every institution that we as Americans are proud of. Wrecking are school, economy, a war (one that Cheney gave a speech on before Bush was running for President–the necessity of invading Iraq and two other countries. Civility in exchanging ideas is almost non-existent; the Know-Nothings are fighting at the risk of destroying as all. Look at the astro-turf groups at town halls. Biting fingers, a man saying he had more rights than a disabled woman…ISN’T THAT WHY WE ARE ON THIS SITE? FOR INTELLIGENT DISCOURSE?
Professor, feel free to delete or edit this. This is one day that I just can’t take it anymore. I had friend call; she has pain issues and was also diagnosed with type I diabetes, she’s getting laid off, and she can barely feed herself. She said she was on overload==and she couldn’t watch the news, she was ready to drive off a cliff. I said, “don’t forget to call me!”
So, please, we are all hurting. If you must engage in Schadenfreude (sp?) take pleasure at my situation. Everybody else is. sweet tides, Linda
Gyges, Swartzmoremom and bdaman,
Thank you.
Buddha,
Kiss, Kiss, Smack Smack you like it like that. Look on the serious side” It is becoming about you and me all the time” others are lucky.
Remember the words of Confucius he say, son seek not attention and attention not seek you. Seek not confusion and you will not be confused, seek hospitality and you find it at happy hour with free Hors d’oeuvres.
(Ok, I made the above up.)
AY,
This is still a sensitive issue with me. as I think of what kind of parent I really was and my own personal guilt.
Been down that road to my man and it sucks. When I look at my two oldest and think about all the time I wasted on myself it makes for a sad state of affairs. Keep your head up AY
Understood Professor and thanks for taking the time to mediate. The first time I posted here I was immediately labeled as a troll. It was fairly new to me the word troll. Then birther came to attach itself to me and so on. The more it continued the more it would get under my skin. Why the name calling I asked. It escalated to a point where I shamefully made a bigoted remark to Mike Spindell. A remark that a day doesn’t go by without me thinking about it if only for a second. You will not have any more trouble from me Professor. I’ve decided a few weeks ago the best way for me to handle any personal chides/attacks is to just say thanks for the comment.
Professor, thanks for the comment
Bob Esq:
The above in no way qualifies for the Baez taught.
And what a truly phenomenal taught it is!
BIL:
You’re a terrific teacher/leader. It’s a big world and I have learned and been entertained very much from you. The utility of your service is truly a gift.
We have each cultivated Qi in our own ways. If you were instructing and a student showed up to your martial class inebriated no doubt you would set a boundary, (they would have to exit immediately for their own safety). If you yourself were taking the ring in a competitive tournament and your opponent wobbled in sloppy from tanqueray it would be an automatic forfeit for the same reason.
BIL when people aren’t grounded in the present others know it … instinctively. Sidestepping replies from those occasionally ungrounded in the “NOW” require major Qi movement. A technique which can be difficult to initiate but when refined will prove well worth the effort. It’s got to do with magnetism, think repulse. Please consider compassion dear Sensei, it’s the quantitative path through rather than the linear path in this case. IMHO